EastLink | |
|---|---|
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| EastLink in May 2016 | |
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  North end South end | |
| Coordinates | |
| General information | |
| Type | Freeway |
| Location | Melbourne |
| Length | 39 km (24 mi) |
| Opened | 29 June 2008 |
| Maintained by | ConnectEast |
| Route number(s) |  M3(2008–present) |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  Eastern FreewayDonvale, Melbourne |
| South end | Frankston Freeway Seaford, Melbourne |
| Location(s) | |
| LGA(s) | |
| Major suburbs / towns | Ringwood,Wantirna,Scoresby,Rowville,Dandenong North,Keysborough,Carrum Downs,Seaford |
| Highway system | |
EastLink is atolled section of theM3freeway linking a large area through the eastern and south-eastern suburbs ofMelbourne,Australia.[1]
EastLink is electronically tolled with no cash booths, using a system developed bySICE. The SICE Tolling System is similar to (and interoperable with) thee-TAG system used on theCityLink tollway. EastLink was opened to traffic on Sunday 29 June 2008 and in conjunction with the opening, a month-long toll-free period occurred before regular tolling commenced on 27 July 2008.[2]
The project was constructed by ajoint venture of Australian construction companiesThiess Contractors andJohn Holland,[3] with tolling system contracted to SICE, and mechanical and electrical work contracted toUnited Group Infrastructure.[4] The final project cost wasA$2.5 billion.
Signs at the entrances and on the tollway direct toRingwood,Dandenong,Frankston andDoncaster.
The road was originally shown in the1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F35 Freeway.
The freeway has been a contentious issue, amid concerns over environmental damage and the possibility it would lead to a 'complete' metropolitan ring road. In October 1999, the incomingBracks Government announced that the freeway (which Labor had not promised at the election) had been scrapped. Instead the government promised to investigate a preferred route for theRowville railway line and extendtram route 75 to Knox, neither of which have eventuated.[5] However, in a "major policy about-face", the Bracks Government announced in August 2000 that it would seek federal funding for the freeway.[6] To obtain funding, the freeway would need to be classified as a road of "national importance", despite the fact that it did not form part of the national highway system. The "U-turn"' on the freeway was strongly criticised by opponents such as thePublic Transport Users Association, because it would result in proposed public transport alternatives, such as the Rowville railway line, being scrapped.[7]
In 2001, University of Melbourne academicPaul Mees launched legal action in the Federal Court seeking an injunction, under section 475 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, to prevent Transport MinisterPeter Batchelor and the Roads Corporation (VicRoads) from"taking any further action relating to the construction of the Scoresby freeway or the Eastern Ring Road". He alleged that the freeway would threaten migratory birds, plant species and wetlands and that the freeway was part of a larger plan to build ametropolitan ring road to Greensborough.[8] In light of the court case, state government bureaucrats removed references to the metropolitan ring road from a draft Metropolitan Strategy.[9]
In 2003, theSouthern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) was established by theVictorian Government, to manage and oversee the project on behalf of the government. SEITA was responsible for managing the process of selecting a private sector bidder.[3]
In October 2004, SEITA awarded the contract for the design, construction, and operation of EastLink toConnectEast, a company that was publicly listed on theASX in November 2004. ConnectEast subsequently contracted Thiess John Holland, a group formed by the partnership of two major construction companies, to carry out the detailed design and construction of EastLink.[3]
ConnectEast, as owner of the road, is responsible for its day-to-day management until the concession deed expires in 2043. EastLink's construction began in March 2005, and the road opened on 29 June 2008.
The opening of the road on 29 June 2008 saw traffic on nearby Stud, Springvale and Blackburn Roads drop by 30% to 40%,[10] but traffic on the Eastern Freeway rose by 5 per cent at the Burke Road intersection, and by about 1–2 per cent at Hoddle Street in the city.[11] On average 270,868 cars, trucks and motorbikes travelled on the road every day until the tolling was introduced on 23 July.[12] In the first week after the introduction of tolls, the average number of daily trips fell to 133,722. This was in line with estimates of a 40 to 50 per cent decline, but is a third below prospectus forecasts. The average toll per trip was $3.10 – above the estimate of $2.91.[12]
In its first six months of operation, Eastlink made a loss of almost $93 million.[13] In 2010, the road had to be refinanced, with its traffic forecasts rewritten due to lower than expected traffic volumes.[14]
The tollway was closed for the first time on 18 February 2010 when a semi-trailer crashed into a large pylon holding up a road sign gantry. The driver had lost control on the north-bound side of the tollway, 300m from the Wellington Rd exit, and was killed in the accident.
Over the years the project was variously referred to as theEastern Ring Road,Scoresby Freeway,Scoresby Bypass, andMitcham-Frankston Freeway.
On 23 March 2005, with the beginning of construction on the project, thenPremierSteve Bracks announced that the road would be calledEastLink, at a ceremony inRowville.[15] The new name was reportedly chosen because it was easier to say, apparently easier to remember, and would fit on street directories.
On 27 February 2008, it was announced that the EastLink / Monash Freeway interchange would be named the "Tom Wills Interchange", after the founder ofAustralian rules footballTom Wills.[16] On 24 March 2008, Roads MinisterTim Pallas announced that the twin tunnels would be named "Melba" and "Mullum Mullum", in the inbound and outbound direction respectively.[17]
EastLink begins at the eastern end of the Eastern Freeway at Springvale Road inNunawading, before tunnelling eastward towardsRingwood under theMullum Mullum Creek area. It then travels 40 km south towardsFrankston, passing through the suburbs ofWantirna,Wantirna South,Scoresby,Rowville,Mulgrave,Dandenong North,Noble Park,Keysborough,Dandenong South,Bangholme, andCarrum Downs, before ending at the northern end of the Frankston Freeway.[18] The majority of the freeway has three lanes running in each direction, while between Thompson Rd and Frankston Freeway, there are 2 lanes running in each direction.[19]
The standard travel time onEastLink in both directions, is 26 minutes, (12 minutes betweenFrankston Freeway /Peninsula Link and theMonash Freeway, 7 minutes between theMonash Freeway and theBurwood Highway and 7 minutes between theBurwood Highway andSpringvale Road). Typical travel time is between 30 and 40 minutes.
EastLink does not regularly have peak period congestion like other urban metropolitan freeways inMelbourne. However, delays can be experienced following roadworks or they might be residual, following an incident. Occasionally, traffic congestion occurs betweenThompsons Road and the junction with the other three freeways inCarrum Downs, where the freeway changes from three to two lanes. If the congestion builds, the travel time can reach 40 minutes or beyond.
While the construction of Eastlink alleviated congestion on Springvale Road, it has had the effect of funnelling the traffic onto other roads, particularly increasing traffic on the Eastern Freeway.
| LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehorse–Manningham boundary | Nunawading–Donvale boundary | 0.0 | 0.0 | Eastern Freeway (M3) – Collingwood,City | Northern terminus of tollway; continues west as Eastern Freeway |
 Springvale Road (Metro Route 40) – Donvale,Nunawading | Single point urban interchange | ||||
| Manningham | Donvale | 1.2 | 0.75 | Toll point 1 | |
| 1.7– 3.3 | 1.1– 2.1 | Melba Tunnel northbound / Mullum Mullum Tunnel southbound | |||
| Maroondah | Ringwood | 3.9 | 2.4 |  Ringwood Bypass (Metro Route 62) – Ringwood,Lilydale | Semi-directional T interchange; northbound exit uses Maroondah Highway exit and passes it |
| 4.4 | 2.7 |  Maroondah Highway (Metro Route 34) – Ringwood,Lilydale,Box Hill,Mitcham | ModifiedSPUI; northbound exit left turn only - northbound-eastbound must proceed on ramp via Bypass | ||
| 5.1 | 3.2 | Toll point 2 | |||
| 6.1 | 3.8 |  Canterbury Road (Metro Route 32) – Montrose,Vermont | |||
| Knox | Wantirna | 6.9 | 4.3 | Toll point 3 | |
| 7.6 | 4.7 |  Boronia Road (Metro Route 36) – Boronia,Vermont | |||
| 8.6 | 5.3 | Toll point 4 | |||
| Wantirna–Wantirna South boundary | 9.3 | 5.8 |  Burwood Highway (Metro Route 26) – Burwood,Ferntree Gully | ||
| Wantirna South | 10.2 | 6.3 | Toll point 5 | ||
| 11.1 | 6.9 |  High Street Road (Metro Route 24) – Glen Waverley,Ferntree Gully | |||
| 12.2 | 7.6 | Toll point 6 | |||
| Scoresby | 14 | 8.7 |  Ferntree Gully Road (Metro Route 22) – Ferntree Gully,Oakleigh | ||
| 15.1 | 9.4 | Toll point 7 | |||
| 15.3 | 9.5 | Dalmore Drive / Eastlink OutboundBP Service Centre | Southbound exit and entry only | ||
| Eastlink Inbound BP Service Centre | Northbound exit and entry only | ||||
| Rowville | 16.5 | 10.3 |  Wellington Road (Metro Route 18) – Mulgrave,Rowville | ||
| 17.3 | 10.7 | Toll point 8 | |||
| Monash | Mulgrave | 18.1 | 11.2 |  Police Road (Metro Route 16 west, unallocated east) – Springvale,Dandenong | Southbound exit and northbound entrance only, northbound exit via Monash Freeway exit ramp |
| Greater Dandenong | Dandenong North | 18.9 | 11.7 |   Monash Freeway (M1) –City,Warragul,Melbourne Airport | Tom Wills Interchange; no northbound exit to M1 south-eastbound, no southbound entry from M1 north-westbound |
| 20.8 | 12.9 | Toll point 9 | |||
| Dandenong North–Dandenong–Noble Park–Noble Park Northquadripoint | 21.5 | 13.4 |  Princes Highway (National Alt Route 1) – Dandenong,City | ||
| Keysborough | 25.8 | 16.0 | Toll point 10 | ||
| 24.3 | 15.1 |  Cheltenham Road (Metro Route 10) – Mentone,Dandenong | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 25.3 | 15.7 |  Dandenong Bypass (Metro Route 49 west, no shield east) – Keysborough,Dandenong South | |||
| 25.8 | 16.0 | Toll point 11 | |||
| 26.5 | 16.5 |  Greens Road (Metro Route 12) – Mordialloc,Narre Warren | |||
| Bangholme | 31.3 | 19.4 | Toll point 12 | ||
| Frankston–Greater Dandenong boundary | Carrum Downs–Bangholme boundary | 33.1 | 20.6 |  Thompson Road (Metro Route 6) – Carrum,Cranbourne | |
| Frankston | Carrum Downs | 35.5 | 22.1 | Toll point 13 | |
| 36.9 | 22.9 |  Mornington Peninsula Freeway (M11) – Baxter,Rosebud,Portsea | Southbound exit to M11 south-eastbound, northbound entrance from M11 north-westbound | ||
| Seaford | 37.7 | 23.4 |  Rutherford Road (B664) – Carrum Downs,Skye | Southbound exit and northbound entrance only | |
| Frankston Freeway (M3) – Frankston | Southern terminus of tollway; continues south asFrankston Freeway | ||||
| |||||
A 4.8 km section of theDingley Freeway called theDandenong Bypass (also referred to as theDandenong Southern Bypass during its construction) was built by ConnectEast and Thiess John Holland as part of the EastLink project.[20] The bypass opened on 9 December 2007.[21]
EastLink is electronically tolled via a system commercially calledBreeze, entirely provided by SICE, Spanish system integrator company with broad experience in the tolling market. This system is fully interoperable with all other tollways in Australia, including theTransurbane-TAG system used on CityLink.[22]
The system features a uniquely designed electronic vehicle tag, the "Breeze Tag", which is about half the size of the standard design of e-TAG. The Breeze system is provided bySpanish company SICE,[23] with the Road Side Equipment, including the Breeze Tags, provided bySwedish firm Kapsch TrafficCom AB, under thePREMID brand ofDSRC products.[24]
Tolls on EastLink can be charged in three different ways:
If a driver travels on EastLink without taking any of the three actions above to pay for the toll(s) either prior to, or within three days after travel, an invoice for cost of the toll(s) plus an account processing fee will be sent to the registered vehicle's owner. If the toll invoice is not paid, an overdue notice (with an additional processing fee) is issued. If the invoice is still not paid, a fine is issued by Victoria Police.[28]
The concession period held byConnectEast is due to end on 30 November 2043,[29] after which the ownership of the road will be transferred to the state.
Multiple toll points are located along the EastLink, with each toll point charging a fixed fee.[30] The total toll incurred per trip is the smaller of the trip cap or the total price of toll points passed through. The exception is taxis which pay a fixed price for travel on any section south of Maroondah Highway, regardless of the distance travelled or number of toll points passed through.
The cheapest toll points are located betweenMaroondah Highway and High Street Road, with slightly more expensive toll points located in the longer sections near the south of the tollway, and the most expensive one within the tunnel section between Maroondah Highway /Ringwood Bypass and Springvale Road. Motorcycle prices are half of cars, while higher rates apply for larger vehicles.[31]
Discounts are also offered to car drivers. A 20 per cent discount applies to the cost of any car trip(s) taken on a Saturday or Sunday and also to one way trips between two consecutive interchanges (excluding the tunnels) on weekdays.
| Toll road | Toll section or toll points | Maximum toll price per trip | Toll increase | Toll concessionaire | Expiry of toll concession | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cars | Motorcycles | Light Commercial Vehicles | Heavy Commercial Vehicles | Long Heavy Commercial Vehicles | |||||
| EastLink[32] | Tunnel section | $3.56[a] | $1.78 | $5.71 | $9.46 | Annually on 1 July by CPI | ConnectEast | 2043[33] | |
| Each of the four toll points between Maroondah Highway and High Street Road | $0.52[a] | $0.27 | $0.83 | $1.38 | |||||
| Each of the six toll points between High Street Road and Greens Road | $0.78[a] | $0.39 | $1.24 | $2.06 | |||||
| Each of the two toll points between Greens Road and Mornington Peninsula Freeway | $1.82[a] | $0.90 | $2.90 | $4.81 | |||||
| Trip cap | $7.58[a] | $3.80 | $12.13 | $20.10 | |||||
TheEastLink Trail is a shared walking and cycle path that follows a similar north–south route to the EastLink project. Using it, cyclists and pedestrians are able to cycle or walk most of the distance of the road, along a 3-metre wide dedicatedconcrete path. Many major roads are crossed via under or over passes. Some roads, such as High Street Road (and until November 2009, Burwood Highway), require crossing the roadat grade.[34]
In wet weather, two underpasses are not trafficable as they have been built on floodways. These are the Ferntree Gully Road underpass and the Wellington Road underpass. After a medium amount of rain the underpasses flood and trail users must cross over the major roads to continue along the path. This can prove dangerous and during peak traffic times, trail users are known to have waited up to 20 minutes to safely cross the roads when the underpasses have flooded.
The Eastlink trail stops in Dandenong and does not continue. Users may take the Dandenong Creek Trail from this point which will take them to Carrum, where they will be able to join the Peninsula Link trail to Frankston and Mornington.
For those using the trail, substantial deviations from EastLink must be taken into account in travel times as the shared path does not follow the freeway in many cases as existing trails were joined up to the trails specifically built during the construction of the road. This has led to some very twisty sections of trail and in some cases, detours of over 3 km from the EastLink.
The road was the subject of an Environmental Effects Statement (June 1998), which was followed by a public hearing process in April 1999 before the final Government decision to proceed. The statement predicted an 18.5per cent increase in carbon dioxide, impacts on groundwater and wetlands, high impacts on areas of conservation value and the potential to affect 38 species of rare or threatened fauna and flora if the freeway was built.[8]
EastLink's builders stated that the road would relieve traffic congestion throughout Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs, resulting in more efficient traffic flow, therefore reducing fuel consumption and exhaust output.[35]
During the planning phase (then aVicRoads project), a large debate surrounding damage to theMullum Mullum Valley occurred. A number of options for the path of the road through the valley were considered. The option chosen – for two 1.6 km tunnels – was the second-to-most expensive, and the second-to-most environmentally friendly.[36] Other options considered in planning included a surface road for the entire length, much shorter tunnels, and slightly longer tunnels.
However, despite the attention on tunnelling beneath the Mullum Mullum Gorge, the Ringwood Interchange is entirely above-ground and has resulted in relocation of the creek through this area.
Vehicles travelling at reasonably consistent speeds use less fuel ... emissions are all reduced by better and more consistent speeds.
